We’ve two chucks of free time for the two nights there, spending all on Main Avenue, starting from the railway station, “The D&RG(W) and the Rio Grande Southern Railroad were vital resources to many places, including Durango, before the major introduction of the automobile, …”
Durango has many wine bars on Main Ave. EsoTerra; Oye & Eolus: we bar hopping, instead of dinner, visiting three (Oye twice). Main Ave feels young and vibrant, perhaps Durango is the home of Fort Lewis College?
The most impressive site in the park. It’s the largest, was ‘discovered’ in the 1800s, with 150 rooms and 23 kivas (spaces used by Pueblos for rites and meetings), housed about 100 people. Other cliff dwellings (such as Fire House) are much smaller, they were about 1 to 5 rooms, and there are 600+ such dwellings in the park.
Visitors are seen at the Cliff Palace from where we’re – at the Overlook. Our tour didn’t arrange us to visit it.
The information panel reads,
“Ties That Bind
Although silent today, Cliff Palace is a reflective reminder of a people who settled among these cliffs, canyons, and mesa tops for a time, and then migraled to establish new communities and neighborhoods further south. Here, for 700 years, they passed their skills, traditions, artistry, and knowledge from generation to generation, forming the foundations of modern Pueblo culture. Through elaborate oral histories, most Pueblo people trace their ancestry back to the Four Corners region and occasionally return to honor their past, their ancestors, and their ancestral homeland.
A great viewing point, looking out to multiple cliff dwelling villages, over the canyon, in the Mesa Verde national park. These dwellings used to be bustling communities. Over 30 cliff dwellings occupy these canyon alcoves and ledges.
The two information panels read:
“Years of Change
Children born in one of these cliff dwellings in 1225 CE experienced many changes in their lifetime. Over the course of roughly 75 years, they and their families witnessed the migration from mesa top villages into alcove communities; a significant peak in the area’s population; and then the final exodus from the entire Four Corners region.
By the end of the 13th century, these canyons were quiet again-filled with remnants of once thriving communities and a host of unanswered questions.
The move to the alcoves began around 1200 CE and by mid-century, there were more than 30 cliff dwellings in the Cliff and Fewkes Canyon neighborhood. Several are visible from here. Imagine these canyons filled with the sights and sounds of a bustling neighborhood-smoke from cook fires, children playing, men working in their mesa top fields, people going about their day. Well-travelled paths wound through cliffs and forests from one village to another. Ties of families, friendships, shared celebrations, and ceremonies brought neighbors together in this vibrant community.
Oye Oysters and Small Plates has the best oysters: compact and crunch!
We also have the crab cake, flavorful but could use a bit more salt. When the male staff came to clean, (why do I feel that he’s the owner?) and asked how’s everything, I gently suggested that bit more salt might make it pop up and out. He takes my comment positively – I don’t give advice face to face because fearing my Chinglish might rub the business/people the wrong way. But seeing the enthusiasm of the young staff, which is contagious, I boldly suggested.
It’s the second wine bar of the night. Theirs is a narrow two stories shop, that opened 11 weeks ago (did I get the number right?) with an upbeat youthful vibe. All the staff came by our table, sounded and looked genuine – thank you.
The ground level has 4 modern paintings and top level has a large window looking out to Main Ave and couple of small skylights.
Like their stems – Riedel. Pinot Noir is yummy.
The oysters … theirs are from Puget Sound in Seattle, flew in twice or three times a week. The restaurant offers two kinds, salty and sweet. (… hope I get these info right) I chose the salty one. maybe we’ll return tomorrow to have the sweet ones.
I’ve been to Seattle quite few times but couldn’t remember how delicious their oysters are. Senile. Well, reportedly, Pacific Northwest oysters are known for their diverse flavors and textures. They certainly are different from, say, like the Little Neck in New York or elsewhere.
These single-row masonries are improvement from the Pithouse. Generations after the pothouse, the builders had new ideals, that they shaped stones into blocks, to make stone walls. This particular village had 3 connecting rooms, a detached room and a kiva courtyard.
These underground houses were ways for the Pueblo farmers to deal with the four seasons: keeping cool in the summer and warm in the snowy winter. The nomadic people lived in the area for thousands of years, permanent homes began to appear on the mesa around 550.
The park info panel reads:
“Experimental Archaeology
Pitstructure
How did the Anasazi build their houses? How much time and energy did it take? A DAP archaeologist decided to find out. Using only wooden digging sticks, stone axes and local materials- logs, poles, brush, mud, yucca fiber ropes and sandstone slabs – he built an Anasazi-type house. He discovered that it took over 8000 strokes with a stone ax to fell a single tree 11½ inches in diameter!
When the house was completed, the researcher tried living in it. What do you think it would be like to live in a house dug into the ground, covered with brush and mud? The only way in or out was through a hole in the roof that also served as the smokehole for the fire pit. Would you like living as the Anasazi did?
This is the site of a pithouse, one of the earliest permanent dwellings on Mesa Verde. The family that lived here was not isolated, but was part of a community. Their neighbors lived in at least seven pithouses nearby, and small fields or gardens were probably located close to the homes, wherever growing conditions were good. They raised corn, beans, and squash, hunted animals, and gathered an impressive array of wild plants.
They make the corn, which is not too common. I’ve vegan cookie and cream – it tastes like my store bought – guess I’m not too adventurous in ice cream.
